London To Lille: Eurostar, Bus, or Fly?

I haven't heard that many Eurostar services have had difficulties - where and when was this? My initial reaction is Eurostar in a heartbeat. No other option is even close.

The bus is a terrible, terrible, terrible option. The ferries do run late, the crossing can be rough, you have to get off the bus: it is not a smooth journey at all! Avoid, unless you need to save money.

Took Eurostar to him from Paris and London just over a month ago. No problems at all. I’d certainly pick that even with a delay over a 6 1/2 hour bus ride

Since the existence of EuroStar, I take it whenever required between London and Paris. Very convenient, comfortable, and reliable, since I stay in a B&B in Kings Cross and at Gare du Nord where the EuroStar arrives. Arriving in Lille on EuroStar, I have not done that.

The station for the Eurostar in Lille is called Lille-Europe. It is modern, sleek, and very French and serves TGVs as well as Eurostar. Car hire offices are right in the station and the cars are in a multistorey integral with the station. Across the plaza (Place de l'Europe) is a large shopping mall, Euralille, now part of the Westfield empire, and restaurants, and the station for local trains Lille-Flandres is a very short distance away, linked by a walkway. All other modes of transport are there too, and it is a short walk to Old Lille.

Eurostar is the obvious choice. Lille is an uncommon destination, although I have visited there and enjoyed it. At one time, ten years ago, I think Eurostar didn't sell tickets to Lille, it was just a single stop on the way to major cities. Don't overlook 60-90 minute check in requirements for customs and immigration preceding departure.

Advance discount, non-refundable, non-changeable tickets are far cheaper than walkup fares. You can also save money by looking at the list of departures to see the cheaper ones, that business travelers use less.

We will be doing the reverse in October, taking the Eurostar from Lille to London. Even with any potential delay it’s still the fastest choice. I bought our tickets for 10/20 on 4/25 and got a good price. The closer to your travel date the more expensive it gets.

Why Lille? For us, we are traveling through western France by car. It easy to drop the car in Lille. I’ve been wanting to go there anyway and we will spend two nights there. If we hadn’t spent a week in Paris in April we would have gone there.

The Eurostar for sure. My husband worked in Lille for a while in 2020, and at first I was entertaining notions of us relocating there -- and part of the reason was to have been that much closer to London !

If one is doing more than a superficial visit in Northern France, Lille should be on the itinerary, well worth visiting. In the late 1990s I took two day trips there both times by train from Arras, ie never stayed in Lille, only spent the day there while staying in Arras.

Thirty years ago I had the honour to work for the company that made the steel construction of Lille-Europe railway station. My contribution was making order lists of the facades, so not something special but nevertheless you feel somehow connected with the project. Think it was early 1993 as we did a company excursion to the construction site and Lille was still a place with a somber atmosphere. But becoming an important highspeed railway hub between London, Paris and Brussels this project as part of the new urban quarter Euralille later boosted the local economy. The historic part got a makeover too and nowadays Lille is an attractive lively place and certainly worth to visit. Each time driving by on the way to Normandy or Paris or mentioned here on the forum I think back to that project even it’s so long ago.

I can remember that this railway station was designed by the engineering office of the SNCF – French railways. The wavy roof depicts a flying carpet. The design of Euralille was a project of OMA, a Dutch based international urban design and architecture office. One of it’s founders Rem Koolhaas was for instance also one of the architects of the innovative shaped China Central TV (CCTV) headquarters in Beijing.

Sounds like the Eurostar wins the vote! Just bought the tickets. Thanks everyone!